1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a sports training device, and more particularly to a sports skills training strap for training muscles and establishing muscle memory patterns for more compact, efficient and powerful strokes for sports activities requiring a swinging motion of the arms, such as in tennis, golf, baseball and basketball.
2. Description of Related Arts
What weekend tennis player doesn""t wish he or she could serve a ball 100 miles per hour. What weekend golfer doesn""t wish she or he was able to drive a ball 300 yards and in the middle of the fairway on every tee shot. What baseball or softball doesn""t wish he could make that perfect compact powerful swing? What basketball player doesn""t wish she could shoot the perfect jump shot? Professional tennis players, golfers, baseball and basketball players do achieve these athletic feats, but what sets these professionals apart from weekend athletes is their ability to swing a tennis racquet or a golf club, hit a baseball faster and farther, or shoot a basketball with better accuracy, speed, power, compactness, and efficiency. All these professional athletes achieve these qualities after hours of practice, and years of training. They practice repetitive strokes to build a pattern for their muscles to xe2x80x9cmemorize,xe2x80x9d i.e. xe2x80x9cmuscle memory.xe2x80x9d These professional athletes often have trainers and coaches, and the time to practice swinging their racquets or clubs to improve their swings, or to take shot after shot. The trainers and coaches watch the motions of the athlete, telling him or her what he or she is doing wrong, or how to better move their bodies and arms. Weekend athletes usually cannot afford trainers, coaches to analyze each movement, or to give them feed back on how a swing or a basketball shot should feel.
Often in sports, the ability to hit a ball farther, or more accurately is a combination of power and speed of the individual""s movements. The swing, in the case of golf, tennis or baseball is a combination of an athlete""s swinging of her arms, and a twisting or turning of her whole body, working in unison to create the speed and power to transmit to the ball at impact. A person""s body weight may be important, but technique is equally important. Tennis players tend to be very thin and not very muscular. Yet, come professional golf, Ian Woosnan and Sergio Garcia, two of the shortest (Woosnan), and slimmest (Garcia) players hit for a greater distance than other professionals who are taller and stronger. Mark McGwire uses a combination of a compact swing, quick bat speed, and strength to hit his home runs.
In basketball, how well one shoots is often dependent upon her technique. In professional basketball, great shooters have shooting percentages around 50%, not a high number. Thus, shooting skill is a premium commodity. How one raises her arm and moves her arms and wrists when shooting the basketball affect the shot. Having proper fundamentals is essential. One lesson taught over and over is to shoot the ball with greater arc. Being able to shoot a ball from a great distance, with sufficient arc, is a great advantage. However, to be able to do that, one requires both technique and power.
In tennis and golf, or any other sports requiring the athlete to swing some sort of xe2x80x9chitting instrument,xe2x80x9d the goal is the same: to produce an efficient, smooth, accurate and powerful swing. In general, a swing works in the following manner: an individual, from a set position, holds a tennis racquet or a golf club, i.e., the xe2x80x9chitting instrument,xe2x80x9d in a set position. She then swings the hitting instrument back in an arc, twisting her body, and guiding the hitting instrument by her hands and arms, to a predetermined point. This is her xe2x80x9cbackswing.xe2x80x9d She then proceeds to swing the club back down along the same plane generating speed and power as the hitting instrument moves to make contact with the ball, which may or may not be moving (in golf, the ball is stationary, and in tennis, the ball is moving) in a xe2x80x9ccontact area.xe2x80x9d The individual then continues swinging the hitting instrument through the contact area through a xe2x80x9cfollow through,xe2x80x9d ending the swing at some point in the follow through. The combination of backswing, swinging through the contact area, and the follow through create the power and speed, and accuracy necessary for each swing. The amount of backswing, speed and power through the contact area, and the amount of follow through required for each swing affects the distance the ball goes and the speed of the ball.
In tennis, an individual moves her body to the right or left standing at a right angle to the direction of the ball, as she makes her backswing. She then swings her arm forward and rotates her body as she hits the approaching ball and then continues through her follow through. The swing may be a vertical motion, over her head, or around either side of her body. The length of the backswing and follow through determine the speed and distance of the shot. The majority of the swings are full swings. But there is also xe2x80x9cvolleying,xe2x80x9d which involves very little backswing, and a short follow through after contact.
In golf, similar requirements as in tennis exist for the golfer""s swing. Although the individual""s feet do not move during the swing as in tennis, but a golfer also rotates her body and arms in the same direction as the golfer makes her backswing, begins moving her arms forward through the contact area and completes her follow through. On a typical swing, an overextended backswing often results in a mishit or a loss of distance because the proper coordination of body and arms is not achieved so that the forward swing is not on the same plane as the backswing. Furthermore, a golfer with a habitual abbreviated follow through, or no follow through, finds it difficult to hit the ball straight consistently, and also may decelerate his swing, resulting in either a weakly hit ball, or a mishit. Also, proper positioning of the body relative to the arms and hands throughout the swing is needed to generate power, and keep the golf club moving along the same plane. This is especially true for shots in which the golfer may not make a full swing, but still needs the body and arms to be coordinated in their movements, such as two swinging motions, xe2x80x9cpitchingxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cchipping.xe2x80x9d
In baseball, the player starts with his arm, and the club already in a set position behind him. He may twist his hips back slightly to help generate the power required in the back swing before twisting them forward as he swings his arms and hands through the hitting area, shifting his weight forward slightly and turning his wrists and straightening his arms.
But in all the sports, the basic rotation of the hips, turning the body to follow the rotation of the arms during the swing is the same. The individual may use one hand or two hands to swing the hitting instrument, depending upon the sport. In all of the sports, however, the power and speed generated in the swing are a combination of the swinging of the hands and arms, and the twisting and untwisting of the body, and the hips, specifically, and the strength in the legs. Every individual, in learning how to swing the hitting instrument, strives to swing the hitting instrument using a proper combination of swinging his arms, turning his wrists, and rotating and twisting his trunk to promote a fast, powerful swing.
In all these sports, emphasis is placed on creating a compact swing that stores energy on the backswing, generating power, transferring the energy from the swinging instrument to the ball as contact is made through a hitting area between the swinging instrument (such as a racquet or a club) and the ball. Furthermore, in those sports the position of the arms and the body during the back swing, at the time of contact, and the follow through are all important to achieving a powerful, accurate and efficient swing.
In basketball, players must learn how to shoot the ball properly. In professional basketball, a premium is placed on being able to shoot the basketball. A good shooter typically will make only around 50% of his jump shots. This requires both power and skill. Power for shooting comes from the movement of power from the feet and legs, through the waist, shoulders, elbow, wrist and finally the fingers. Often times, an individual learning to shoot a basketball, will keep her hands high over her head, and use only her wrists. This will often cause the ball to go straighter, and with less arc, decreasing her chances of making the shot. In addition, she cannot use the power in her body to propel the ball up from her shoulders or elbows and in a higher arc, and from a greater distance, thus limiting her effectiveness. When the ball is positioned so that it is almost level with the head, the individual can more effectively shoot the basketball, using more power to push the ball up in an arc. The individual can push his arms upwards, using his legs, body and arms to propel the ball in a high arc towards the basket.
As amateurs, the average weekend athlete, like the professional athlete, also desires to learn how to hit a golf ball or a tennis ball faster, farther, more accurately, and with greater efficiency, or how to shoot a basketball more fluidly and accurately. But the weekend athlete may not have either the time to practice, or the opportunity to obtain professional instruction that is available to a professional athlete, to improve her swing or her motion. As a result, a number of training devices have cropped up, designed to enable the weekend athlete to achieve a better swing, whether it be in golf, tennis, racquetball, softball, or in any sport where swinging some club, or bat, or racquet is required, or designed to teach an individual how to properly use her arms when shooting a basketball.
Golf in particular is a sport where new swing aids are introduced daily. The goals are always to teach the golfer to keep her arms close to her body, not to overswing, and to swing so that contact is made cleanly. In the case of golf, much of this is tied to the backswing and the follow through of the golf club. In tennis, the emphasis of training aids has been traditionally to teach the tennis player how to move her body perpendicular to the approach of the ball to begin her swing. In basketball, it is the motion of the hands and arms as the individual shoots the basketball.
One problem for a weekend athlete is that today""s training aids are too limited in what they can be used to train. Present day training aids in each sport are directed to a specific skill. As a result, an individual learning several sports may be required to obtain different training aids for each sport. Also, training aids are often cost prohibitive, requiring an individual to spend a fair amount of money for each training aid. In golf, in particular, there are many swing training aids that are used for training specific movements. The result is that a golfer buying those training aids must buy more aids, and spend more money to own each of these separate swing training aids. Often, these swing training aids are not something a golfer can even use with her golf clubs. Thus, the golfer must try to adapt what she has learned with the swing training aid to her swing with her golf clubs. Golfers often lament that they hit well at a driving range, but not when they are playing a game. A training aid not used in conjunction with hitting a golf ball can be less instructive.
For tennis, the main training aid is a ball machine that shoots balls to either side of the player, so she may practice her tennis strokes from either side of her body.
Baseball, like tennis offers few training aids that a person may use to help him memorize an effective swing pattern.
In basketball, there are few, if any, training aids to help the individual learn how to shoot a basketball with the proper wrist and arm motion.
What is needed is a low cost interchangeable training aid that can be used in several sports for several different types of swings by an individual while she is practicing with her respective hitting instrument or for any other uses requiring her to coordinate the movements of her arm alone or in conjunction with her body.
A conventional training strap comprises a tension strap having a first end and a second end, a fastener provided at the first end of the tension strap for detachably fastening on a belt loop of an individual""s pants, and an arm loop provided at the second end of the tension strap for detachably fastening on an upper arm of the individual in such a manner that by adjustably controlling the length of the tension strap, a distance between the individual""s arm and the individual""s waist, so as to guide the arm of the individual to perform a swinging motion with respect to the body thereof.
However, the conventional training strap has several drawbacks. Since the arm loop has a predetermined width, the arm loop tends to slidably move along the individual""s arm when swinging. In order to guide the correct swinging motion of the individual""s arm, the arm loop must be fastened on a lower portion of the individual""s arm. Therefore, the unwanted sliding movement of the arm loop may cause an improper arm swinging movement with respect to his body turn. Even though the arm loop can be tightly fastened on the individual""s arm, the individual may feel uncomfortable and hurt his muscle when the arm loop is fastened too tight on the arm.
In addition, when performing the swinging motion, the body turn of the individual will pull the pants to move through the tension strap. Since the pulling force on the tension strap will create stress on the belt loop, the stress will either tear the belt loop or pull the pants to move around the individual""s waist. Therefore, the unwanted twisting movement of the individual""s pants may cause an improper turn of the body as the individual swings his body forward.
A main object of the present invention is to provide a sports skills training arrangement for promoting a muscle memory of a human body, wherein the training arrangement is capable of connecting an athlete""s arm or arms to his body that creates tension when an individual overswings while swinging a hitting instrument through her backswing, promoting a muscle memory pattern for a more compact backswing.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports skills training arrangement, which comprises a waist loop strap for encircling a waist portion of the human body, so as to prevent an unwanted twisting movement of the pants.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports skills training arrangement, wherein an arm loop strap having a predetermined width comfortly and securely encircles an upper arm of the human body so as to prevent an unwanted sliding movement of the arm loop strap along the arm of the human body while performing the swinging motion.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports skills training arrangement that creates tension when an individual overswings while swinging a hitting instrument through her backswing, promoting a muscle memory pattern for a more fluid swing.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports skills training arrangement that creates tension when an individual overswings while swinging a hitting instrument through her backswing, promoting a muscle memory pattern to keep a individual""s forward swing pattern on the same plane as her backswing.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports skills training arrangement device connecting an athlete""s arm or arms to his body that creates tension when an individual overswings while swinging a hitting instrument through her backswing, thereby promoting a muscle memory pattern for an individual""s body to rotate in a coordinated movement in the same direction as the individual""s arms as the individual swings the hitting instrument back through her backswing.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports skills training arrangement device connecting an athlete""s arm or arms to his body so as to create tension when an individual overswings while swinging a hitting instrument through her forward swing, thereby promoting a muscle memory pattern for an individual""s body to rotate in a coordinated movement in the same direction as the individual""s arms as the individual swings the hitting instrument through the contact area.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports skills training arrangement device connecting an athlete""s arm or arms to her body that that creates tension as the individual rotates her arms through the hitting area and through her follow through promoting a coordinated muscle memory pattern for a complete rotation of the individual""s body as she swings her hitting instrument past the hitting area and through her follow through.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports skill training strap, which is capable of connecting an individual""s upper arm to his waist in order to force him to keep his arm down when preparing to shoot, and enabling him to practice using his whole body in coordination with his arm, elbow and wrist as he shoots the basketball, promoting a coordinated muscle memory pattern for a fluid one-piece shooting motion.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports skills training arrangement of a simple design to promote muscle memory patterns for a variety of swings for a variety of sports.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports skills training arrangement for promoting muscle memory that is inexpensive to manufacture.
Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a sports skills training arrangement for promoting muscle memory of a human body, comprising:
an arm loop strap adapted for encircling an upper arm of the human body, wherein the arm loop strap which has a predetermined length made of elastic material comprises a loop size adjuster connecting a first end portion and a second end portion of the arm loop strap to define an arm loop, wherein the loop size adjuster is adapted to adjust a diameter of the arm loop to equal to a diameter of a lower portion of the upper arm so as to fittingly fasten around the lower portion of the upper arm of the human body and prevent an axial movement thereof;
a fibrous length-adjusting tension strap having a first end and a second end attached to the arm loop strap;
a body connector affixed to the first end of the tension strap adapted for detachably attaching to a specific connection point of a waist portion of the human body;
a waist adjuster, which is slidably mounted on the tension strap, defining a control portion of the tension strap between the second end thereof and the waist adjuster and a waist loop portion of the tension strap formed by connecting the body connector to the waist adjuster, wherein the waist adjuster is adapted to adjust a diameter of the waist loop portion to equal to a diameter of the waist portion of the human body so as to fittingly fasten around the waist portion of the human body; and
a length adjustment means which is provided on the tension strap for adjusting a length of the control portion of the tension strap.